Star Trek The Original Series From History's Shadow Read Online Free PDF Page B

Things are very busy on the base.”
    “I can imagine,” Adlar replied as he picked up one of his utensils and began partaking of his breakfast. The simple act of holding and using the implement had required practice in order for him to appear natural while eating in public, but after this much time spent among humans, such things now were second nature. “What are they saying?”
    The previous day had brought with it an impressive feat, at least so far as measured by the current level of human technological advancement. An experimental aircraft guided by a human pilot had accelerated to heretofore unattainable speeds, traveling faster than sound itself. Though pre-mission briefings regarding Earth’s supposed “normal” timeline provided him with historical facts surrounding the prior day’s events, Adlar still wished he could have witnessed it for himself.
    “Despite the inconsequential nature of the accomplishment, the military leaders are very proud of themselves,” Gejalik said, keeping her voice low so as to avoid being overheard by other diner patrons.
    Adlar frowned. “It’s not inconsequential when viewed in the proper context. You’re forgetting where these people are, technologically. They’ve barely taken their first steps toward the future you and I take for granted.”
    For the first time since her arrival, Gejalik smiled, an expression Adlar found appealing on her human façade. “You always seem to be defending them.”
    Shaking his head, Adlar countered, “I don’t defend them. I prefer to view such things with the correct perspective. Think of our home planet, and where our people are, technologically and socially, at this precise point in time. One could argue that Earth in many ways is currently on par with if not superior to Certoss Ajahlan as it exists in this era.”
    He could see that his remarks, as often happened when he spoke in this fashion, were beginning to irritate his companion. Perhaps she wondered or worried that expressing such views suggested he might not be up to the task they had been given. Even with the obstacles that had arisen since their arrival on Earth, Adlar never had wavered from their mission. One could still admire a civilization, he felt, even while working to bring about its eventual destruction.
    It was not the primary mission to which he and Gejalik along with their two companions, Jaecz and Etlun, had been assigned by their military superiors on Certoss Ajahlan. Instead, they originally were to have been part of a larger effort to disrupt the efforts here on Earth of the Na’khul, a rival race that had become an enemy of the Certoss people as a consequence of the Temporal Cold War. That conflict, waged across time itself and all but consuming numerous civilizations, was being fought on multiple fronts spanning centuries. Earth at this point in its nascent history had been one of those fronts, though not of its people’s own design. According to the briefings provided to Adlar and his companions prior to setting out on their mission, the Na’khul had inserted themselves into a global conflict that had been raging here. Working in secret, Na’khul operatives undertook several actions to alter key events in the war’s earliest days, along with providing advanced technology in order to favor one of the smaller, more militaristic nation-states.
    Though the Certoss had fought a largely defensive action during the temporal campaigns, there were occasions where more aggressive tactics had been required. Earth presented one such example in the eyes of Certoss government and military leaders who had come to know that—either because of or in spite of Na’khul interference in its history—humanitywould develop to a point of technological advancement that ultimately presented a direct threat to the Certoss people. War between the two civilizations would result in the fall of Certoss Ajahlan. For obvious reasons, that could not be allowed to happen. Thwarting the